The eastern Atolls

With M/V Ciska to Jacques
Cousteaus Basecamp

To the east of the Tukang Besi Islands in Indonesia are scattered many
small islands and atolls. Jacques Cousteau had his basecamp on the small
island Moromaho, which is situated on the far eastern side of the archipelago.
From here he studied the biological diversity of the area.

Also this area can be only diven during the short interval between the
monsoon seasons in April or October.
In April 2002 we visited the area on board of the Ciska and again we discovered
totally untouched coral reefs.

Our 14-day-trip led from Kendari directely to the eastern atolls of the
Tukang Besi region and from there further on to Pasar Wajo and Batuata
and the east coast of Selayar. Like the year before the trip ended in
Bira on the south-western tip of Sulawesi.

There are no dive reports from the eastern atolls. So most of our dives
were exploratory.

Ronduma
and Karang Kohomaha

We did our first dives off Ananao, a small island north
of Ronduma. All our dives took place on the western side of the island
at a wall which was covered by hard- and soft coral and lots of gorgonian
fans. With visibility exceeding 30 m we discovered several leaf scorpion
fish and also a turtle. Especially the reef top was in excellent condition.
During another dive in the afternoon directly in front of a nice beach
we met dogtooth tuna and schools of jacks. A nightdive at the same spot
turned out rather disappointing.

From Karang Koromaha, about 40 km further south, it is possible
to see Tomea to the west. However, fishermen from this big island come
here very seldom for fishing. The sea is normally very rough and the boats
the people use are not very reliable. We anchored in the interior of the
large atoll which is 6 km in diameter together with two small fishing
boats which had come all the way from Kaledupa. We met them also during
daytime and watched them fishing with lines.

During our stay we dove mostly in the north-west and north-east
of the atoll, close to the natural entrance of the lagoon. Near the entrance
there are at certain times strong currents. On the other hand we hoped
to see the big pelagics there.

All the dives were very interesting: We dove at steep slopes
covered by big whip coral and deep walls with overhangs and a lot of black
coral and gorgonian fans. Also here the reef top was in perfect condition
and the diversity of hard- and soft coral was spectacular. However the
big fish did not show. We saw some big tuna, one whitetip reef shark,
eagle rays, big groupers, barracudas and of course turtles.

Karang
Koka

After a short stop over at Pulau Cowocowo, a small island
covered with palms and jungle we reached Karang Koka.
Karang Koka is even bigger than Karang Koromaha and has two natural entrances,
one in the south and the other one on the north-eastern side. We dove
the northern and western side of the atoll and found walls and steep slopes.
Coral growth was very dense everywhere and in some places we discovered
gorgonians of enormous size and many black coral. On some spots we had
to fight with changing currents.

Nightdives inside the lagoon were quite boring. There were
staghorn coral on sandy bottom and the usual nightlife.

Pulau
Moromaho

As there were no possibilities to anchor in front of Pulau
Moromaho we decided to stay overnight in the lagoon of Karang Koka. Moromaho
is a small island covered with palm trees. It rises sharply from the sea
bottom out of 400 m. The flat, large reef top ends abruptly at a more
than 60 m deep wall. During our dives the Ciska had to cross all the time
in front of the island as there where no natural anchor places to be found.

Our dives in front of the island´s western side were
all extremely good. Nowhere else during our trip did we meet so many and
big schools of fish, mostly jacks and fussiliers. The walls had many entrances
and overhangs. Everywhere there were big gorgonians, black coral and huge
barrel sponges. However all the time we had to deal with strong currents.
At one spot, there was even a strong down current.

During our visit on the island we found out that the island
was at least temporarily inhabited. In the season there are people here
to harvest coco-nuts and catch fish. Even fresh water seems to be available.
However we prefered the desalinated water on board of the Ciska.

Pulau
Hoga

Also this year Hoga offered us some surprises. The reefs
here are well protected by volunteers from Operation Wallacea. There is
a group of rangers who really act, when somebody destroys the reef. Also
fishlife and coral growth show the success of these measures. We saw big
groupers, napoleons and a high diversity of marine life. As in 2001 one
of our best dives was at the Northern W and the Pinnacles where we saw
giant trevallies and jacks hunting other fish.

Northern Wall and Pinnacles are no easy dives. During one
dive at the Northern Wall we suddenly came into an extremely strong down
current which pressed one of us from 12 m to 36 m. He surfaced far away
from the boat. For an inexperienced diver this dive could have ended fatally.

Batuata

Batuata or Batuatas means "High Rock". The island
is situated halfway between the Tukang Besi Islands and Selayar. The western
coast has high limestone cliffs behind a beautiful beach - a perfect setting
for a movie. The island is inhabited and there are irregular contacts
with Baubau on Buton. In the meantime the 5 villages are on their own.

We arrived at Batuata after short stops in Pasarwajo and
the Kaledupa Reef. Our dives at the western side of the island were very
good. We found a deep wall with huge overhangs and entrances covered with
Gorgonians and many soft coral. We met turtles, humphead-parrotfish and
schools of jacks.

Batuata certainly is an interesting destination for liveaboard
trips in the region. It offers good diving possibilities, scenic sights
and beaches and interesting villages and people in the interior.

Selayar
und Bira

After a night journey we arrived at the southern tip of
Selayar the next morning. Jochen, the owner of Selayar Dive Resort, has
succeeded in integrating this area into the Taka Bone Rate National Park.
This means all the guests have to pay a national park entrance fee. Hopefulley
this money will help to protect this area better than before.

Our dives in the north of the resort at Tanjung Cumi were
very interesting. We saw big schools of barracuda there.

On our trip to the north we saw again sperm wales. One of
them diving down very close to the ship.

In Bira we met at last more sharks at the end of our trip.
We saw them at Pulau Kambing and at Cape Bira. Unfortunately dynamite
fishing has encreased enormously during the last years in the area. We
heard explosions quite often during our dives and when we visited Mamasa
Pinnacles in the north of Bira we found a totally destroyed reef top.
This dive site was still very good when we dove there 4 years ago.